Evangelist Lives As Gay Man For 1 Year In Hopes Of Changing His Mind.

Well being that I hate murderers, rapists, thief, and numerous other walks of life. I don't really want to live in their shoes to "know" them. ^^
even for a day, no thank you.
Although a hip topic to talk about "gay", id love to see him paint up black face walk into any ghetto on the planet and say what up homes, IM black
now. Here some of the quotes from story, obviously some from the community don't think it was such a great idea and are quite offended.

“I feel for the gay community of Nashville, and for every person who trusted Kurek enough to flirt with him, hang out with him, and confide in him
about their lives,” wrote Amy Lieberman on the blog Feministing. “If I were in that community, I would feel so betrayed right now.”

In a Huffington Post blog post titled “Pretending To Be Gay Isn’t The Answer,” Emily Timbol, a religion blogger, expressed a similar opinion:
“What's sad is that every interaction Timothy had during his year pretending was fake.”

IM so glad it was just for the life lesson , oh but wait what he'll give SOME of the proceeds to from what, oh his book. $$$$$

"The author plans to donate part of the proceeds from his book to help LGBT homeless youth who have been rejected by their families."

part of, should give it all to them dbag.

He is now at work on a book proposal for a follow-up to “The Cross in the Closet.” The book will be about the years after his experiment,
transitioning back to honest living while continuing to engage the LGBT community.

Yeah "honest living". Not quite sure what he meant by that but since I already think he's a d-bag , ill presume he was talking about the gay community
not being honest? lol what a RICHARD

Anthropologist have done this in the past as well and written books about their subjects. People didn't like it then either. IM not gay never will be,
but this is complete bs to do to people who you are going to call "friends". Now if he went to the community and said hey peeps, IM completely
straight and I think what you do is completely disgusting, but! id like to hang out with you for a year and try to get over my fears or at least
understand this culture. IM pretty sure 90% would have said sure buddy come along more the merrier.

At least my gay friends have no problem doing it. " hey a bunch of us having drinks later wanna come along, sure id love to sounds cool". Awesome to
show up to a place called the "golden banana" for drinks BA$%^RDS!!! lol

It's not hard to figure "them" out. Some people like chicken, some like beef. Wow its really that freaking simple. Still absolutely disgusting, but my
friends are cool and I tell them straight to their face I think its disgusting. Doesn't mean they aren't great people and fun as hell to hang out
with. ^^

As I understand it, a minister took the most serious and committed action he could think of in order to understand homosexuality better. He wanted
to learn, make his thinking more correct and become more sensitive.

The reaction, from the article just posted, and from some ATSers, is "He betrayed us. He just wants money. He still hasn't learned anything about
homosexuals because he didn't engage in sex. He never would have learned anything anyway, because the only way you can tell is to be homosexual your
entire life."

What this is teaching me is that it just isn't safe to talk to homosexuals about their experiences. They seem quick to condemn and to reject serious
attempts by others to learn. They may have reason to be over-sensitive, but I tend to stay away from snapping turtles.

This is probably a minimal post, but I agree with every word in your most recent post. There is ignorance, but I think it's more a lack of love.

I can't imagine hating a homosexual. Each of us have problems and temptations to overcome, and we should be helping each other instead of hating.
Yes, I know, that many people consider homosexual activity to not be a problem or a temptation. I don't want to get into that fight. The question
for me is, if you believe it's a problem in another person, is hatred and rejection the way to help them? Of course not.

I have very definite opinions about homosexuality but I'll only address the obvious, I'm not sure how courageous it was of him to live as a gay man.
Honestly I think it was him acting out the impulses he had within himself in a manner disguised as research. I can't help but think of Daddy
Longlegs Bishop Long and wonder how many highly visual pastors who scream opposition to homosexuality is really closeted gays themselves?

That's a shallow response, every behavior we have is usually rooted in our upbringing, specifically our social conditioning. There are reasons why we
dislike the things we do, and only by addressing these reasons can we come to better understand ourselves and our peers. Homophobia, for example, or
general dislike of homosexuality, speaks volumes of one's sexual security; there is no inherent or natural reason to like or dislike homosexuality, or
any other socially deviant trait.

Bisexuality is more or less a part of the human condition, yet in contemporary society we condemn it. For this reason, many people don't know how to
deal with their bisexual desires, and out of fear of judgment from their peers feel a need to "prove" to others just how much they "dislike" sexual
deviance. It's much easier to let go of the irrational hatred and practice self acceptance.

I am glad to hear that in America a homosexual has nothing to fear,
that's a giant step forward.

Honestly I think it was him acting out the impulses he had within himself in a manner disguised as research.

Why do you think that?
Was there something in the article or some other source that makes you think he was lying about his motivation?

I can't help but think of Daddy Longlegs Bishop Long and wonder how many highly visual pastors who scream opposition to homosexuality is really
closeted gays themselves?

Who knows? Do you think it's most of them? Nearly all of them? Or is it closer to the average for all other
Americans, 2-4%?

Oh don't be confused I was merely pointing out he didn't have to do that to know that some people feel harshly about homosexuals. Heck all he had to
do was ask some of the people he knew in his church or friends for their candid opinion. He had a lesbian friend who told him what she went through,
what her telling him her experience wasn't enough? I guess not. I didn't say he was lying I said my thoughts on the matter of his experimentation. If
I wanted to know how a broke leg felt I wouldn't go out and break my leg I'll just ask someone who had their leg broken, this is my opinion. To be
honest with you I could care less how many are closeted eventually they'll out themselves.

I do not want to start a war here. Everyone has a right to their own opinion. I am not trying to convince anyone, we all have free will to make our
own decisions however for those who believe in God and in the bible it is written that the greatest of all commandments is to love one another NOT
SEXUALLY but as a brother or sister.

It is also written that homosexuality is a sin but so is fornication.

Battling the flesh (our sinful desires) is one of the hardest things to do and it is a daily struggle.

I really wish people would stop summing up the gay life to just sex......its insulting , I was gay way before I ever had sex, and having sex does not
make you who you are.....Just because this man did'nt have sex does'nt mean he did'nt exsperience the isolation, hatred or judgement some of us go
through.....I would think that would be the important message.

I like the idea that this man actually had the guts to walk the walk, and im
glad he got the view point of what a gay man might experience during one
single year of life.

And as to the poster who said we should be free to not "like" something other
people do, you are correct in that, we should well be free to dislike things,
freedom is the most important thing we have, however i would disagree with
my whole heart that it somehow gives us the right to oppress anyone in the
name of our freedom, your freedom ends where mine begins you see,
that's how this works, your free to dislike whatever you choose, you are
not FREE to oppress someone else freedoms because of those dislikes.

Freedom means sometimes you might see and hear things you don't like,
but freedom also means we leave those things be so that we may have
our own things that others don't like.......

that's why our declaration of independence is written as such, EVERY human
was created equal, EVERY SINGLE ONE, all humans deserve equal rights. that is freedom.
our fore fathers fought against those who believed they had a divine right to dictate
what we did as well, different church same ole song and dance........ the divine
right of kings yea that one was as ridiculous as the divine right of the religious
right to dictate other peoples life's because they don't like it...... get over it and
mind your own business......

Like they say: "The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance."

Good thread. s&f

edit on 2-12-2012 by AfterInfinity because: (no reason given)

You must have seen that AboveTopSecret Magic Card avatar. But yeah, I agree with you. I think that Religions have the right to believe what they want
to, but I think that condemning a lifestyle they know nothing about is unhealthy. This guy went out there and explored it in order to fully
understand.

I applaud him for not taking the route that most religious people would, which is "HEY! That's naughty. Stop that or you will be in hell for all
eternity!"

But you can't know what it feels like to be somebody just by pretending to live that lifestyle. I could go around pretending I'm French for a year,
or pretend to be a cop for a year, but that doesn't mean I'll fully understand what it's like.

I remember reading this story some time ago, I know some people feel betrayed by this mans actions (on both sides of the issue) but I applaud his
resolve and self awareness. He knew in his soul that there was a paradox that must be resolved and set a plan in motion that to settle the battle
being waged in his thoughts and heart. In the end he learned that the LGBT community was not to be feared. However there was a price to be paid and
now his view of religion is "jaded" and he has yet to find a church that feels like "home". This is also a very common reality among Gays in that
the hypocrisy of organized religion burns a invisible brand so painful, that the faithful must search anew for a home that is truely accepting.

Nashville has one of the biggest gay communities I've ever seen (then again, I've never been to San Fran), it also has a lot of religious elements
within it. You've got a huge Christian university, Trevecca Nazarene University, down that way.

Good for him. It's easy to condemn someone to burning in Hell forever in your own mind when you don't understand a damn thing about what it's like
living that lifestyle, learning its lessons, and seeing the dark side of your own religion.

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